1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to apparatuses for manufacturing heat sinks and methods for making the heat sinks, and particularly to an apparatus for manufacturing a carbon nanotube heat sink and a method for making the carbon nanotube heat sink.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are a novel carbonaceous material and have received a great deal of interest since the early 1990s. Carbon nanotubes have interesting and potentially useful electromagnetic, optical, mechanical, chemical, and other properties. Carbon nanotube applications in field emission electron sources, sensors, new optical materials, soft ferromagnetic materials are reported often. Carbon nanotubes have superior thermal conductivity. A carbon nanotube array can be used as a heat sink.
A typical example is shown and discussed in American patent application publication No. US 20070158584A1, entitled, “Heat sink with carbon nanotubes and method for manufacturing the same”, published to MONG-TUNG LIN on May 16, 2007. This patent application publication discloses a heat sink and a method for making the same. The heat sink includes a base and a plurality of carbon nanotubes. The base has a first surface and a second surface facing away from the first surface. The carbon nanotubes have a main portion and a distal portion. The distal portion is embedded in the base and extends from the first surface to the second surface of the base. The main portion extends from the second surface in a direction away from the first surface of the base. The method for manufacturing the heat sink comprises: providing a substrate, forming a plurality of carbon nanotubes on the substrate, forming a base in which one end of the carbon nanotubes is embedded, removing the substrate, and obtaining the heat sink. However, due to the greater density of carbon nanotubes in the heat sink, heat accumulated at the carbon nanotubes does not convect well to the air.
In an article entitled, “Chip cooling with integrated carbon nanotube microfin architectures,” by K. Kordas et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 90. 123105 (2007), a heat sink of a carbon nanotube fin array and a method for manufacturing the same to overcome the above-mentioned drawbacks are disclosed. Structures of 10×10 carbon nanotube fin array blocks are fabricated in a freestanding carbon nanotube fin array by laser-assisted surface patterning with a defocused pulsed laser. The carbon nanotube fin array having the carbon nanotube fin array blocks is a heat sink. Each carbon nanotube array block has a size of 1.2×1.0×1.0 mm3 and a mass of 0.27 mg. A gap is between every two of the carbon nanotube array blocks of the heat sink, so that heat convects to the air easily.
However, only one heat sink can be made from one carbon nanotube array by the above-described method. The efficiency is low and the cost is high.
What is needed, therefore, is to provide a highly efficient method for making the carbon nanotube heat sink and an apparatus for manufacturing carbon nanotube heat sink.